Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 2 feet tall Zones: 4-8 Top Picks: ‘Album’ offers white flowers; ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’ offers clear pink flowers; ‘Variegatum’ has purple-pink flowers and white-variegated leaves Buy It: Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’ ($12, Bluestone Perennials) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 2 feet tall Zones: 4-9 Top Picks: ‘White Towers’ bears white flowers; ‘Tojen’ offers especially large lavender flowers Buy It: Toad Lily ($29, Breck’s) Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 6 inches tall Zones: 3-9 Top Picks: ‘Golden Glow’ has creamy-yellow edges; ‘Burgundy Glow’ offers silvery-green leaves splashed with pink and burgundy; ‘Chocolate Chip’ offers smaller, purple-infused leaves Buy It: Ajuga Live Plant ($3, Walmart) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 3 feet tall Zones: 3-9 Top Picks: ‘Pantaloons’ has pure white flowers. ‘Gold Heart’ bears bright golden leaves and pink flowers Buy It: Old-Fashioned Bleeding Heart ($13, Breck’s) Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun (depending on variety) in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 2 feet tall (depending on variety) Zones: 3-8 Top Picks: ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ offers silvery-blue leaves and stays 1 foot wide; ‘Frances Williams’ offers thick, blue-green leaves edged in chartreuse and grows 2 feet wide; ‘Sum and Substance’ offers chartreuse leaves and grows 6 feet wide Buy It: Live Plant Hosta ($8, Walmart) Test Garden Tip: Because its foliage is somewhat hairy, deer and rabbits typically leave lungwort alone. Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 4-8 Top Picks: ‘Opal’ features ice-blue flowers; ‘Trevi Fountain’ features cobalt-blue blooms. Buy It: Pulmonaria Raspberry Splash ($19, Bluestone Perennials) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 5-8 Top Picks: Corydalis lutea is the easiest to grow and the longest blooming; white corydalis (Corydalis ochroleuca) also flowers over an extended period Buy It: Corydalis Ferny Corydalis Cheilanthifolia Seeds ($4, Seed Corner) Test Garden Tip: Keep deadnettle looking its best by keeping it moist. If it dries out too much, the leaves will develop brown edges. Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 8 inches tall Zones: 4-8 Top Picks: ‘White Nancy’ offers white flowers and silver foliage with a green edge; ‘Beacon Silver’ bears pink flowers and silvery leaves Buy It: Spotted Dead Nettle ($12, Bluestone Perennials) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade where it tolerates dry spells, but does best with regular watering Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 5-9 Top Picks: ‘Niveum’ offers pure white flowers; ‘Sulfureum’ offers yellow blooms Buy It: Epimedium g. ‘Lilafee’ (Barrenwort) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 2 feet tall Zones: 3-8 Top Picks: ‘Hadspen Cream’ offers green leaves broadly edged in creamy white; ‘Jack Frost’ has green leaves heavily overlaid with silver Buy It: Brunnera ‘Sea Heart’ ($20, Park Seed) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade where it tolerates dry spells, though it does best with regular moisture Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 4-8 Top Picks: The Heronswood Double strain offers frilly, petal-packed blooms in a wide range of colors; the Royal Heritage strain offers single blooms in a wide range of colors Buy It: Hellebore Collection ($65, Breck’s) Growing Conditions: Part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 3 feet tall (depending on variety) Zones: 4-8 Top Picks: ‘Deutschland’ bears pure white flowers; ‘Fanal’ offers dark red plums and bronzy foliage; ‘Sprite’ is an award-winning selection with shell-pink blooms Buy It: Astilbe Mixture Super Sak (from $28, Breck’s) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 5-8 Top Picks: ‘Silver Falls’ has especially metallic leaves; ‘Burgundy Lace’ has rich purple-red tones in the leaves Buy It: Japanese Painted Fern ($26, White Flower Farm) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 6 inches tall Zones: 2-8 Top Picks: Wild ginger is a lovely deciduous type; European wild ginger (Asarum europaeum) offers shiny evergreen heart-shape leaves in Zones 4-8 Buy It: Wild Ginger Seeds ($4, High Country Gardens) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 5-9 Top Picks: ‘Aureola’ bears bright yellow leaves with dark green edges; ‘All Gold’ has even brighter golden foliage Buy It: All Gold Japanese Forest Grass ($30, The Home Depot) Test Garden Tip: Lilyturf can be a fast, almost aggressive spreader when it’s happy so plant it where it can be contained, such as along a concrete walkway. Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun, where it tolerates drought well, but does best with regular watering Size: Up to 12 inches tall Zones: 5-10 Top Picks: ‘Majestic’ offers narrower leaves and deep purple-blue flowers; ‘Silver Dragon’ offers boldly variegated foliage and violet-blue blooms Buy It: Super Blue Lilyturf Liriope Grass Plant ($48, The Home Depot) Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 2 feet tall Zones: 4-8 Top Picks: ‘Bacchanal’ offers dark red flowers; ‘King of Hearts’ offers rose-pink flowers and stays about 1 foot tall; ‘Aurora’ offers white blooms Buy It: Reblooming Bleeding Heart Mixture ($21, Breck’s)
